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Cuba 1

Just got back from 10 wonderful days in Cuba. Beach, snorkeling, rum drinks, salsa dancing (well maybe not me, but I watched others dance) and photography. After the sunrises, beach photos, old buildings in Trinidad, etc. every photographer knows the old cars in Cuba make for awesome subjects. I saw lots of old cars and managed three good images. I could not wait to HDR my car images. I promise I’ll share my other photos, but for now here are my car shots. All were processed using photomatix painterly to give them a little grunge look. Our guide told me about the old cars. When the revolution occurred farm land was redistributed equally so big land owners lost, but peasants gained. Private businesses were taken over by the state, so business owners were upset and many of them were the ones who fled to Miami. However personal property such as homes and cars were left with the original owners. So if a family had an old car it was kept in the family and passed down to younger generations or perhaps sold to someone else. Many people started using them as taxis to help pay the car bills. Many of them have had the original engines replaced. Some with diesel engines even.

The owners often want money to take a photo of their car. This guy figured I wanted to take a photo so he would not leave the car. I had to stand a long ways off and pretend to shoot something else and then zoom in on his car.

I could not crop out the distracting background so I used my eliptical selection tool to select the car and then darkened around it to get rid of the distractions.

This sweet Chevy was beautifully cared for. It is a taxi and now has a Mitsubushi engine in it and a GPS on the dash.